Gohan closed his eyes as he flew in front of the procession, sensing the locations of all of his troops. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to the floating ship behind him. The royal family was transporting a treasured artifact, the Oween, and it was the duty of his squad to guard it.
It was the most important task Squad Ten had been assigned since Gohan had taken over as its captain. He himself had led even greater missions against the traitor Aizen, but those had been specially picked task forces, not his squad./
Gohan stood in the center of the circle of captains. He felt very small, being a mere ten year old in the presence of so many adults at this formal gathering.
"Gohan Son," the Head Captain said, holding out his arms, "in recognition of your extraordinary abilities and your remarkable achievements in just a short time, I present you this captain's howdy. Wear it well, and wear it proudly, as one the Captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads."
Slowly, Gohan stretched out his hand and took the garment from the Head Captain. Holding it in front of him, Gohan recited "I swear that I will serve the seretei with my life, that I will obey orders, and that I will being honor to the name of the Soul Reapers."
Gohan put the howdy on over his Soul Reaper robes. One by one, the captains surrounding him unsheathed their swords, holding them high above his head in a salute. Gohan drew his own sword and held it straight up.
As one, the thirteen captains sheathed their swords once more. They were now equals. They filed out of the sacred meeting room, until only Gohan was left.
Gohan stepped into the sunlight, dressed in a captain's uniform for the first time. Waiting for him outside were Lieutenant Matsumoto and the rest of the ranked members of Squad Ten.
His men and women. Their lives were now in his hands.
With an unusually serious expression, Lieutenant Matsumoto and the rest of his new subordinates saluted him.
"What are your orders, Captain?"/
"Captain!"
Gohan turned his head towards his lieutenant. "Yes?"
Rangiku settled into flight next to him. "All squad members are in place. All positions report all clear."
Gohan looked straight ahead again. "I know."
Rangiku looked back at the airship. "It's really impressive, isn't it, sir?"
Gohan nodded. "There's always a lot of fanfare surrounding royalty."
"Watch yourself, Captain. You'll get into trouble, talking like that."
"Maybe." Vegeta would have had Gohan's head for that sort of comment, assuming the "Prince of all Saiyans could ever get a hold of him.
"What's so funny?"
Gohan turned back to Rangiku. "Huh?"
"You're smiling, Captain. I don't see you do that very often."
"It's nothing."
Rangiku shook her head. She tried so hard to get her young Captain to drop that serious attitude of his, but he smiled only at the most random times, as if there was some inside joke only he knew about.
It wasn't surprising. The boy had lost everything he knew when the demon Bojak had broken the barrier between dimensions and stranded them in the Soul Society. But beyond that nothing was known about Gohan's past.
Gohan stopped, his face once again serious.
"What is it, Capt-" Gohan's ability to sense reitasu was second to none, but whatever he had noticed had passed into her range as well.
"What is that?"
A bolt of lightning shot past them, blasting through the top of the airship's palace structure, collapsing it.
"Assemble the squad!" Gohan ordered.
"Right away, sir!"/
Mass confusion reigned as fire raged throughout the surface of the airship.
Gohan flew close, sword in hand. "Get down!" he yelled at the terrified workers. He gave an almighty swing of his blade, the force creating a wind so powerful that it blew out almost all of the fires.
One fire remained, hovering in a ball above the carnage.
"So there's two of you." Gohan said. "One with fire, and one with lightning."/
"Go!"
Spurred on by Rangiku, Squad Ten leapt in unison at the damaged airship.
"Not so fast!"
A burst of electricity blasted the first wave of soul reapers away.
Rangiku glared at the attacker. Between them and their goal was a woman in white. She had a skull mask on her forehead.
"An Arrancar?"
The assailant brandished a whip, creating electric sparks. "Goodbye." she sneered, raising it for another attack./
The ball of fire shot straight at Gohan, who blocked it with his blade. Met with his resistance, the fire dissipated, leaving another woman pressing her sword against Gohan's.
"Who are you?" he demanded, pressing her back.
Sensing that she was being overpowered, the woman leapt back and into the palace structure, which burst into flame again.
Gohan leapt after her into the fire. He immediately realized that this fire was different.
It was primarily smoke.
Proceeding cautiously, Gohan followed his opponent. "You can't hide from-"
Slowly, Gohan looked down. A sword had appeared out of the smoke, piercing his upper abdomen. Gohan stepped back, leaving the bloodied blade behind.
"Who said anything about hiding?"
A figure, taller than the woman Gohan had been fighting, stepped out of the smoke and into view. It was a man this time, his face covered by an Arrancar mask. It's flowing cloak reminded Gohan of his old master Piccolo.
"Who are you?" Gohan demanded again.
The figure raised its sword and charged. "Figure it out!"
Gohan met the attack head on and followed up with one of his own. Both were blocked with ease, and the combatants backed away from each other momentarily.
Then they ran at each other again. There attacks were faster this time, and more powerful.
Gohan swung his sword down onto his opponent's, embedding both of them in the floor. "Show me your face!" he yelled, reaching for the Arrancar's mask with his free hand.
All he got was his enemy's cloak, as it slipped away into the smoke.
Gohan stood still, holding the cloak.
"Captain!"
Rangiku and much of Squad Ten appeared on the deck below him, their opponent having fled as well.
"What happened, sir? Where's the Oween?"
Gohan turned his head and looked down at her sadly.
"Captain, are you all right?" He was often moody, but something about Gohan's expression sent chills down Rangiku's spine.
And then suddenly, he was gone, having disappeared so fast that Rangiku couldn't follow his movements.
"Cap…tain?"
